On the Night of the Fire Festival
Prologue Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a happy prince. He recalled no painful past, and knew no painful future. One day, the prince obtained a comforting warmth. The source of this warmth, however, emanated not only tranquility, but also unhappiness, pain and loneliness. Story The Fire Festival is coming up where everybody dresses in traditional clothing and dances around a bonfire, and Duck who spaced out during class is punished by having to clean the room for the Advanced Class after school. Upon arriving, she meets Mytho dressed in traditional clothing who invites her into dancing with him. Fakir sees this through a window, comes to Mytho after Duck has left and forbids him from attending the Fire Festival, leaving with him. Duck sees this, follows them to the library to find Fakir locking Mytho in a closet and in anger pushes Fakir aside, trying to let the locked Mytho out. In her attempt, she lets slip her knowledge of him needing his heart back which causes an angry Fakir to warn her to stay away before leaving a crying Duck alone. Duck later goes outside to meet Edel who shows her a way to get into the room Mytho is in. Climbing in through the window, Duck falls into the room and through a secret panel which takes her underground. Whilst an invisible voice speaks to her, Duck runs through the tunnels looking for Mytho. Transforming into Princess Tutu, she comes across the voice which turns out to be a Lamp Spirit. The Lamp Spirit takes on the form of a girl who is being influenced by a heart shard. Princess Tutu dances with and then returns the shard to Mytho. She then takes Mytho to Rue, who is still waiting for Mytho even though the Fire Festival is over. Despite that, Mytho and Rue dance together whilst Duck watches on. However, when Rue notices Mytho’s gentle eyes she pulls away and runs away. Trivia *The use of the Siegfried Idyll gets more meaning when you consider what Mytho's real name is. *Edel says: "If you want to shine for someone else, you can't be afraid of the dark". *Fire festivals were common in pre-Christian Europe (at least the Germanic parts), and were co-opted into the Christian tradition. Continental Europe usually had it on May 1st, further north it came later, on Midsummer. It was a day of major sacrifice to the Viking gods. When Christianity was introduced to Scandinavia, the sacrifice aspect disappeared, and the day was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. More, but unfortunately not in English. Note that there is something connected to marriage - it just has to do with flowers, not dancing and apples. *Fire was seen as a new beginning and a mean to ward off evil. Some places a witch doll was burned to symbolize the defeat of dark forces. *Golden apples are common in fairy tales and mythology. *This episode is based off of The Mirror and the Lamp, a metaphor from literary criticism. Before the Romantic Era, an artist was viewed as a mirror reflecting reality. Afterwards, he was viewed as a lamp illuminating reality, his soul pouring forth. The episode begins with a shot of Fakir looking into a mirror, searching for Mytho. He is ultimately found sleeping next to a lamp. More abstractly, this is the first episode where Mytho dances out of his own will; he is gaining an artist's soul. Music *Saint-Saëns, Camille: Carnival of the Animals "March of the Lion" *Wagner, Richard: Siegfried Idyll *Beethoven, Ludwig von: Coriolan Overture *Mussorgsky, Modest (orch. Ravel): Pictures at an Exhibition "Catacombs" *Same, same, "Cum mortuis in lingua mortua" *Saint-Saëns, Camille: Carnival of the Animals "Aquarium" Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 Episodes